The Quesnel River Rush faced off against the Williams Lake Mustangs Tuesday (Nov. 27) and took an overtime win over the neighbouring team.
The game's first period was relatively quiet with both teams preventing the other from scoring any goals.
"For the first 40 minutes I thought that pressuring them kind of all over the ice and I really liked our first period," assistant coach Jordan Draper said after the game.
The second period was strong, with seven goals being scored across the two teams.
The first goal of the game was scored a minute into the second period by the Rush's Cash Anderson, with an assist from team captain Bennett Kuhnlein.
That was followed up by the Mustangs' Logan Hauk getting one into the River Rush net.
After that, River Rush top goal scorer and hometown player Isaiah Bagri scored. That was followed up almost immediately by the Mustangs' JP Desabrais scoring.
The Rush got two more goals back-to-back, one by Toren Fron and the other by Max Kinee. Before the period ended, the Mustangs' Noah Pears scored one more goal.
That gave the Rush a 4-3 lead going into the game's third period.
"I'll give a shout out to our fourth line there with Rapp, Heinzelman and Dermott," said team captain Bennett Kuhnlein. "Guys getting in really pushing the pace and gave us the energy that we needed."
Both Draper and Kuhnlein agreed that the team got a little too comfortable in the game's third period.
The Rush added to their lead early in the period with Adam Valach getting his second goal of the season after being out with an injury for part of the early season.
But trouble came for the River Rush as within two minutes their two-goal lead became a tie. Mustangs' Declan Pocock found the net and almost immediately after so did Logan Hauk.
This means the trend of Cariboo Cup games going to overtime continued, with this being the fifth time it has happened so far this season.
"We've been fighting hard all year to get points, get meaningful games. We've gone twice [to] overtime to 100 Mile, " Kuhnlein said.
The overtime period was intense. Rush fans cheered as goalie Kyan Gray made some big saves on the six shots the Mustangs had on him. Draper said Gray's performance kept the Rush in the game and gave them the shot to get the win.
"Kyan, the goalie, made some really big saves in overtime and late in the game," Draper said.
The Rush had five shots on net, the final one was three minutes and 30 seconds into the five-minute overtime period when Kuhnlein landed the puck in the Mustangs' net, giving the Rush the win.
"Felt amazing. I've been on a little bit of a streak here which has been nice," Kuhnlein said. "Getting onto the offensive side of the puck which I know has been a difficult part of my game as my defensive side has usually been my strong suit but it's just been better to put some in the net and assist some as well."
Draper said the win is what matters, but the team is going to be working on keeping a stronger third period.
"It seems like it's been a trend the last four games. It's something that we definitely need to address and work on," Draper said. "It shouldn't happen, and it can't happen getting later in the season."
The Rush play their next home game at the West Fraser Centre Friday, Nov. 29 against Chase with puck drop at 7 p.m. The Roos also play this weekend with a game on Saturday against Smithers at the West Fraser Centre.
The Cariboo Cup standings for bragging rights between the 100 Mile House Wranglers, Quesnel River Rush and Williams Lake Mustangs are:
- Four wins for the Wranglers
- Three wins for the Rush
- Zero wins for the Mustangs
The Wranglers and Mustangs have played each other three times, the Rush and the Wranglers have played each other three times and the Rush and the Mustangs have played each other once so far this season.
